


By The Book

by Leonawriter



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Gen, Illegal Activities, Martin's Previous Job, Mentions Pre-Series Events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 17:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4272267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonawriter/pseuds/Leonawriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of a flight, Martin brings up the subject of his previous job. Douglas can’t bring himself to be surprised that it ended the way it did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By The Book

"I wasn't fired," Martin was suddenly saying, and it was in the middle of a word game with no warning or context.

Douglas didn't know what had brought it on - Carolyn hadn't been in a temper recently, and Martin hadn't been any more of a prat than usual, for his own part. So there was no reason why he  _might_ have been fired. No reason to assure Douglas he hadn't been.

"From my old job. I know - it's hard to imagine me actually getting a job before MJN, and all, and... well, leaving. But I wasn't fired - it wasn't my fault."

Douglas glanced sidelong at his captain as the younger man kept his eyes on the instruments in front of him.

"They were that awful then, were they?"

Martin still wouldn't look at him, not properly. It reminded Douglas of the first week or so, when he'd still been breaking the boy in.

"Hm... um. I mean no, no they weren't. They weren't awful. Not really. They were quite nice, actually. Mostly."

And there he was, repeating himself.

Sometimes, as it happened and as he'd found out through experience, it simply took a little time for an explanation to come pouring out, words like a high-speed waterfall. Only less pretty to look at.

"I was a junior pilot," Martin continued, and he could tell that it was more a confession that took strength of will than Martin would like to admit, being anything other than captain, anything lower than even first officer. "I filled out the paperwork, I went on flights, I did all the things junior pilots were  _supposed_ to do. Things were... okay. I was in the air, after all - if I was patient, I'd work my way up. I knew I was better for the job than the others. No - don't laugh, it wasn't just me, they were worse than me. Really."

It was an image that, frankly, took an awful lot of imagination to muster up. Thankfully, this wasn't a time when it was needed.

"So? What went wrong? Other than the over-abundance of sub-par employees."

Douglas was somewhat relieved to see Martin relax slightly, just a fraction, even if everything else said that he was done now, the joke was old and worn out.

"It wasn't the quality of the pilots that brought that place down. It was me."

It took a lot of effort not to react in the way that he would have if he hadn't, at that point in time, been flying a plane. Sure, it was Martin at the controls, but there were still some things you just couldn't do.

_"What?"_

Martin shrugged, awkwardly, seeming to shrink back into himself, losing an inch at least off of his already short height. He'd seen it happen before. Generally when Carolyn'd had a go at them both over expenses. Or someone had mistaken Douglas for Captain again, and not listened when they'd corrected them.

"I started noticing something off in the records, flight plans, that sort of thing. At first I thought they were just cutting a few corners. Which would've been bad enough." He refrained from pointing out that cutting corners to save on costs was what Carolyn did  _best_. He didn't think it was quite the time or the place. "I brought it up to the person who was actually  _supposed_ to be in charge of financing, not just the kid who noticed things because he'd memorised the manual and things just  _weren't adding up_."

And yet, for Douglas, they were, he realised with a sinking feeling.

"No one listened. At first, I thought no one would believe me. Then, I realised that wasn't it. They just wouldn't look at me. Friendly - they were, perfectly nice. And everything was fine, that's what they kept saying, everything's fine. Except, I knew it wasn't, and I... I went to the CAA."

"Oh,  _Martin_."

He couldn't help it. It wasn't a disappointed 'oh, Martin' or a frustrated one or even in anger. If anything - well, that was simply Martin, wasn't it? Martin all over, and he couldn't quite imagine how the story would have gone any other way.

"Y-yes. Well. I figured at the time that if there was nothing wrong I'd be patted on the back for good behaviour and goon on you, you employed someone who's careful and likes knowing they aren't  _breaking the law_." 

Martin paused, and looked like it was needed. He was breathing quickly, emotion from the past taking hold, but he took control again, slow and steady breaths.

"Except it wasn't nothing. They'd been embezzling money and repairing their aircraft with sub-standard parts because they didn't cost as much. Everyone else knew, except me. Apparently - according to them, anyway - they just couldn't afford to do things properly." Martin snorted. "Still doesn't explain why the boss suddenly disappeared, though."

He thought they both knew the answer to it, even if it didn't need to be said.

"Somehow," the words coming out of his mouth so, so easily, "you don't surprise me at all."

He wondered how much was a carefully crafted lie to maintain composure and persona, how much of Douglas was currently shaking his head in bewilderment at how much about his captain he even now didn't know. How much he'd simply stated, because it fitted in so well with how Martin was Martin, that he wasn't sure what  _could_ surprise him any more.

"Gee, _thanks_."

"Say nothing of it. 'The Red-Headed League'."

 _And, should I say, thank_ you _,_ he felt like saying.  _It can't have been easy, after all that._

A lot suddenly made a lot more sense. Not that it changed anything.

"You would go with that, wouldn't you? 'Pippi Longstocking'."

"I thought it worked rather well, myself."

...

AN: I desperately wanted to write something after going through prompts for ages, and ended up thinking 'why  _was_ it that Martin left his previous job?'. Then... I'll admit to taking some small amount of inspiration from my personal experiences, and a time when it was the company that was ultimately at fault, not me. And this would be the exact kind of thing that Martin would have happen to him. And besides anything else - who'd want a pilot who'd taken one company down already?


End file.
